A tale of the sun and moon
by PhoenixTDM2
Summary: When three young bears from different species—sun, moon, and spectacled—are separated from their families, fate brings them together on a path that will change their lives forever to reach their goal of finding the Seekers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Moony

Moony was a young Moon Bear cub. He loved to play in the trees all day long with his sister, crescent. At night, their mother would always tell them the story of the Great Sun Bear, which was their favorite story.

"Crescent, you can't catch me!" Yelled Moony, as he swung one tree branch to another, giggling.

"Oh, yes I can!" Replied Crescent. She leaped onto a tree branch, and followed him as he swung. Crescent was getting closer to him, so she took a big leap, and landed right on top of him.

"Ow!" Yelled Moony as Crescent dug her claws into his fur to keep her balance. Crescent looked at him with a proud expression and said, "I told you I can!" Moony rolled his eyes and just then their mother called up to them, "My cubs, it's time for bed!" Moony looked at the sky and realized that the moon was coming up and the sky was dark. He leaped down from his tree branch onto a pile of leaves and his mom gave him a stern look.

"Moony, I told you not to jump from that high! You could get hurt! Climb down instead." She said to him. Moony replied with an "Ok" and he saw his sister climbing down the tree. When she got down, the two cubs walked into their den with their mother following them. Crescent and Moony snuggled down onto the floor of the den and them Crescent asked, "Mommy can you tell us the story about the Great Sun Bear?" Their mother smiled down at her and replied, "Of course, my cubs. A long time ago there was a Moon Bear who lived on the sun, and he thought he was a sun bear, himself, even though he looked nothing like the other sun bears. One day, he saw a star and when he tried to run to it, he fell off the sun! He discovered that he could float and he flew all the way to the star. But it wasn't a star, it was the moon. He landed on the moon and saw other bears like him and found out that he was a moon bear! He wanted to live on the moon but he wanted to live on the sun, as well. Another bear told him how he could live between, so he flew out into the middle of both and became a star. Now, the Great Sun Bear was a star bear that could guide all the other bears to there homes when they were lost. Now, my cubs, if you are ever lost, follow the guiding star, the Great Sun Bear and he will guide you back home."

"I love that story." Moony said and then he yawned.

"Ok, now go to bed, cubs." Their mother said softly as Moony and Crescent drifted off into sleep. Their mother smiled and curled up beside them, falling to sleep.

Moony woke up to a weird chattering sound. He stood up and stretched his legs, and quietly crept out of the den. He heard the sound again! He looked to the left and just a few bearlengths away, there was a flat-face. His mother warned him not to get near flat-faces. He gasped and started going back towards his den, but they spotted him and they pulled out a firestick. The flat-face pointed the firestick at Moony as he was running away, but he shot Moony with it. Moony fell to the ground. This wasn't what he pictured a death pellet looking like. It felt like a small needle poking into him. All of a sudden, he got really tired and everything went black.

When Moony woke up, he was in a strange place. It looked like the wild but it was only a mile long and there were other moon bears in there with him. He got up and went to see what this place was. He found a moon bear that had looked like him but he had white tips on his ears.

Moony introduced himself, "Hi there, my name's Moony! I just got woke up at this place. Where are we?" The bear turned around and said, "My name's Fengari. We're in a place called the Bear Bowl. If you ever think of escaping, there's no way out. The flat-faces would just hit you with a sleep needle and put you back in here." Moony looked at him, confused, and asked, "Sleep needle? What's that?"

"Didn't they hit you with one of those when they brought you here?" Fengari asked.

"Oh, I thought they hit me with a death pellet." Moony replied. Fengari laughed and said, "No, young cub. That was a sleep needle. Death pellets kill you, and sleep needles make you fall asleep." Moony understood now but was still confused about one thing so he asked, "I don't understand. Why would they want to make us sleep?"

"So they can move us places! I'm hungry, feeding time is soon. I'm gonna sit on that rock over there and sunbathe." Fengari replied. Moony still wanted to know why the flat-faces would want to move them, but he let Fengari go. He decided to explore. He started running to see where the end would take him, but he ended up at a fence and saw bears at the other side. But these bears were different, they were brown! Moony saw one sleeping by the fence a few bearlengths away, so he walked over to him and said, "Hi, I'm Moony! I've never seen bears that are brown before! What's your name?"

The bear opened one eye and said, "The name's Psaros. Now go away, I'm trying to sleep." Moony nodded and walked away. But then he thought, "If there are bears on this side, there must be bears on the other side!" He ran as fast as he could, not looking where he was going, and when he opened his eyes, there was a fence right next to his face. He tried to stop but he didn't make it in time, and he crashed his head into the fence.

"Owwwwww..." He said, rubbing his head with his left forepaw.

"Woah, you should watch where you're going!" said a voice in front of them. He looked up and saw a white bear on the other side of the fence that was really big. Moony was surprised that there were brown bears, but he was even more surprised that there were white ones.

"Woah... You're white!" Exclaimed Moony. The white bear laughed and said, "Indeed I am. My name's Pagos, what's you're name?"

"My name's Moony." He replied, still looking astonished that there were white bears. The two became really good friends and they talked every day, but one day, Pagos said that he wasn't going to be around for much longer. Moony was really scared that Pagos was going to have to go, but he knew that it was just how life works. He remembered a different story that his mother had told him, about where bears go when they die. Their spirit goes up to the moon. He realized that The Great Sun Bear must have also been a spirit of a dead bear, as well. He guessed that Sun Bears go to the sun, but he didn't know about the White Bears or Brown Bears.

"Where do White Bear spirits go when they die?" Asked Moony. Pagos smiled, being glad that he could tell a cub this story.

"When White Bears die, their spirits go under the ice, and other bears can see shadows of the dead bears. But when the ice melts, their spirits go into the little ice chips in the sky." Replied Pagos. Moony was surprised and he said, "Well, Moon Bear spirits go to the moon." Pagos nodded and he said, "Wow, I didn't know that. Well, my time here on Earth is ending soon. I'm too old."

Moony looked at him with tears in his eyes, saying, "No, Stay alive! I can't lose you!" But Pagos lied down on the floor and Moony smelled an awful smell coming from him.

"That's the smell of death!" Moony thought to himself, as tears started coming out of his eyes. He crouched down beside Pagos and saw him lift his head for the last time and heard him mumble, "Goodbye...", and his head dropped. Moony saw no sign of life from him. No heartbeats or breathing.

"NO!" Screamed Moony as tears were streaming from his eyes and he clawed at the fence, wanting to be by Pagos. Other white and Moon Bears heard him and they ran over to where Moony and Pagos were. Flat-faces heard, too and the ones that took care of them rushed inside of the bear bowl and took away Pagos. Moony sat there, crying for the rest of the day until he cried himself to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sunny

The warm rays of the rising sun beamed down on the sun bears as they started waking up. Sunny stretched out her paws and stood up, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her fur. She walked around and she liked the feeling of the cool grass underneath her paws. Then she heard her flat-face feeders call her by her name. It was the only word she could understand in their flat-face language. She padded over to them and they tossed a piece honeycomb and some fruits to her. Sunny happily ate them and then started napping for the rest of the day.

Sunny woke up to her mother nudging her side. Sunny opened her eyes and looked at her mother, Aureum.

"Wake up, little one. It's morning," Aureum said, gently. Sunny looked around and then stood up. It was morning. She padded over to her friend, Ustrina, and Sunny wanted to surprise her. She crept up to Ustrina and waited for the perfect moment. Then, she pounced!

"AAH!" Ustrina roared as Sunny landed on her back while she was laying down. Sunny laughed and then she started climbing a tree.

"Wait up!" Ustrina called and then started climbing the tree after her. Sunny climbed to the very top of the tree and looked at the white bears which were on the left side of the sun bear's bear bowl. But all of a sudden she heard a loud roar coming from the Moon Bear's bear bowl which was on the other side of the white bears. She saw all the white bears rushing to the side of the silver mesh where the Moon Bear was and all of the Moon Bears were running over to him as well. But then she noticed a white bear on the other side of the mesh from the Moon Bear.

He was lifeless. Sunny's eyes widened in horror; the white bear was dead! She started panicking, as she had never experienced seeing another bear's death. Aureum had told her about it, but she hadn't seen it before. She felt terrible for the young Moon Bear who obviously was grieving for the white bear. She wondered what the Moon Bear cub's name was. She would never know, though.

Sunny climbed down the tree, passing Ustrina and ignoring her questions. She lay down with her paws above her head and didn't look up when Ustrina and Aureum came over to her and asked her what was wrong. She was devastated, even though she didn't even know the white bear or the moon bear.

Sunny acted like this for the next few days but then her mood started to lighten up when they brought in a new white bear. _Maybe that moon bear will become friends with him!_ The thought made her happier and she began feeling way better. _Maybe he's nice! I should meet him!_

Sunny padded over to the white bear's part of bear bowl which was separated by that odd silver mesh. But she called out, "Hello? New white bear? I want to meet you!" Aureum cuffed her over the head and said, "Sunny! You know not to be talking to the white bears! You are a sun bear, the smallest type of bear and they are _white_ bears! The largest type of bear! They're very dangerous!" Sunny apologized and Aureum padded away. But all of a sudden a huge shadow loomed over her. She turned around slowly and nervously and saw a ginormous white bear standing before her. She gulped. "H-hi, big white bear…"

"Are you the bear who asked who the new white bear was? That's me; I came from Star Island but the no-claws came and stole me from my home and my family," the white bear explained. Sunny felt so sorry for the bear, "Yeah, I was the one who called out. I'm so sorry for you! I can't imagine losing my family!" The white bear nodded and said, "My name is Kissimi. Lusa told me about this place but I couldn't believe it was real until I actually saw it!"

"My name is Sunny. Who's Lusa?" She asked. Kissimi responded, "She's a black bear. My friend Kallik was friends with her. Kallik is a white bear and her mate, Yakone is, too. And my friend Toklo is a brown bear."

"Wow, you're friends with all sorts of bears!"

"Yep! But i've never seen a bear like you. You're so tiny! What kind of bear are you?" He asked.

"I'm a Sun Bear. The bears on the other side of your bear bowl are Moon Bears," She explained.

Kissimi nodded and then started to tell the story, "Black bear Lusa had escaped from her bear bowl on a journey to find brown bear Toklo. She met him and Ujurak, a shapeshifting brown bear. Then the three journeyed to Great Bear Lake for the Longest Day ceremony and met Kallik after her brother, Taqqiq, had stole a black bear cub named Miki. After the longest day the four bears traveled to Smoke Mountain and then crossed Big River to get to The Last Great Wilderness. After they arrived they thought it was their home but Ujurak felt it wasn't the end of their journey. Then as they were trying to catch a goose, Ujurak changed into a goose and the plan was to change back into a bear and catch one, but he had forgotten he was a bear so he flew off with them. When Toklo Kallik and Lusa had found him, he had accidentally swallowed a fish hook and he had to change into a no-claw so they could take him to the no-claw healer place. He was starting to get healed but someone who wanted oil came and took him to a giant no-claw denning place and he was taken and got healed all the way. Kallik Toklo and Lusa found him and they were reunited once again. Then they journeyed on the ice for a long time and then reached Star Island, my home. Kallik Ujurak Lusa and Toklo ventured to a side of the island we never even knew existed. They used caribou to take down an oil rig and then a huge avalanche killed Ujurak but he had saved his friends. I was in a cave when this happened so I didn't even know what was happening and I was only a few sunrises old. But then when they left the island Yakone went with them and they ventured back onto land to find the Melting Sea, where Kallik was born. They found Kallik's brother Taqqiq there and saved all the white bears from a mean group of bears who Taqqiq was with but then Taqqiq became good again. Then the four left and went back to where Toklo lived but they got chased by Coyotes and Yakone lost half of his paw and almost died but he survived because of Lusa. Then they had to jump onto a firesnake. They escaped the coyotes and ended up in the forest that Toklo was born in. They met a nice bear named Aiyanna who later became Toklo's mate and Tobi, Toklo's brother was buried on what was now her territory when Toklo was just a cub. Then, Toklo Lusa, Kallik, Yakone, Aiyanna, and all the other brown bears in their forest helped get rid of all of the wolves that had taken over the forest. Then Toklo confronted his mean father and then made his territory his own. But Toklo, Lusa, Kallik, and Yakone had to leave to find Great Bear Lake again to find a home for Lusa but she got taken by no-claws and had to escape. They eventually found her and then they made it to Great Bear Lake. Lusa saved a bunch of bears who had been crushed under logs, but the leaders of the Brown Bears, the Black Bears, and the White Bears had all died so they did different trials to decide who was going to lead the ceremony but there was a big fire from an evil bear named Nanulak and he died in the fire but all the other bears survived except one of Lusa's friends. The bears decided to lead the ceremony together that year and then Kallik, Yakone, Lusa, and Toklo had to say goodbye. They had traveled together for a whole suncircle."

Sunny was listening to the story in awe as she heard the tale of the Seeker bears, who went on a marvelous journey. Sunny wanted to find them herself and meet them. But she had a question, "How did Lusa escape her bear bowl?"

Kissimi thought for a few heartbeats and then replied, "She pretended she was sick and the no-claws took her away into a room and trapped her in a silver cage. Then she found a way out of a cage and escaped the room and she was in the wilderness."

"Wow!" Sunny exclaimed. She decided to fake being sick and meet the Seekers.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Musqux

It was a snowy day. Musqux loved snow. He was a spectacled bear cub who lived on the snow-top mountains. He loved to play in the snow and roll around, even though he wasn't a white bear. He was made fun of for being a snow-lover, but he loved how cold it was and that he could play in it all day. Musqux wanted to be a white bear so he wouldn't be mocked for doing what he loved. He didn't have many friends, though. He had a friend named Herba who was a she-bear cub. Herba's brother was named Conlis, who was also a friend of Musqux. Musqux and his mother had found Herba and Conlis when they were newborn cubs in their birthden while there was a terrible blizzard. Their mother had died right after they were born the sunrise before. Musqux's mother had took them in as her cubs.

Musqux's mother was a sweet bear named Specula, who was the only bear that approved of Musqux's love of snow.

Musqux and Conlis were trekking up the mountain and it started snowing. Musqux became very excited and started rolling around in the snow, which had only taken a few seconds to stick to the ground.

"Come play with me, Conlis!" Musqux exclaimed as he was goofing around in the freshly fallen snow. Conlis rolled his eyes and said, "Snow is for white bears, not spectacled bears!" Musqux ignored him and continued. Conlis got annoyed with his friend who wasn't acting like a proper spectacled bear like he was, and Conlis continued his trek up the mountain, without Musqux.

After Musqux got too cold from playing in the snow, he looked around for Conlis, but he was nowhere to be seen. He looked for his tracks in the snow, but the falling snow had covered them. _Uh oh… I'm lost in the mountain! I don't know my way back up without Conlis, Herba, or Specula!_ The sun was setting. Musqux was getting more and more scared as heavy snow started falling. He tried to scent Conlis and picked up a faint scent. _Why didn't I try scenting him earlier?_ Musqux began hiking up the mountain, following his friend's scent in the shivering cold. _I should've been paying attention when Conlis left!_ He came to a stop. There were more scents that he recognized; Specula and Herba! They had been here! Musqux looked around the landscape but saw nothing he recognized in the icy blizzard.

He tried scenting his friends again but couldn't pick them up because the snow was freezing the inside of his nose. He tried looking for something familiar but the thick snow was covering everything in sight. He started to walk forward and then his paw hit a big rock.

Musqux couldn't feel the pain because his paws were so numb from the heavy snow. He looked down at the rock that stubbed his toe and it looked familiar. _This is the small boulder that Herba and I used to try and move when we were just a few sunrises old!_ He knew that his den was somewhere to the left of the rock so he turned and kept walking.

"Mom? Herba? Conlis?" Musqux called out but he heard no response. He began to become worried because he thought his den was this way. But all of a sudden he heard a faint roar which sounded kind of like " _Musqux!"_ He started running towards the roar and he saw a small hole in a mound. It was his den! He ran inside and his mother was there, with Herba and Conlis.

"Mother!" He exclaimed. Specula began licking his ears and face, "I was so worried, Musqux! Why were you wondering out alone in a blizzard?" She asked. Musqux looked at Conlis who had guilt in his eyes.

"Conlis left me when it started snowing! I was playing in the snow and then he said that I am a spectacled bear not a white bear so I shouldn't like snow and when I finished playing he was gone! Then the blizzard started. I couldn't see his tracks because the snow covered them and then I found his scent but lost it and then I found my way back." Musqux explained. Specula cuffed Conlis over the head and scolded him, "You shouldn't have left him out in the snow! He could have froze to death out there!"

Conlis apologized but then asked, "Well why do we live up here in the snow instead of at the bottom of the mountain where there's no snow?"

"You know why, Conlis. There are scary bears down there who will fight you for food," Specula explained. Conlis sighed and replied, "Yeah, I know. But we've never had berries before! Only snow hares and foxes."

"Yeah, I want berries!" Herba agreed. Specula sighed and said, "I'm sorry, cubs, but we've got to stay at the top of snow-top mountain. You can try berries when you are full grown bears."

"But I want berries _NOW!_ " Herba roared. Specula shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, Herba but you can't. Now it's time to sleep. We can search for prey in the morning when the blizzard is gone." Herba huffed and lay down. Musqux was exhausted from being lost in the snow storm. He lay his head on his paws and felt his eyes droop as he fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Moony

Moony had grieved for a long time after Pagos had died. No other bears tried to comfort him. Life was hard for the next few sunrises because every bear he had ever knew he had lost. It pained him that his first real friend had died just half a moon after they had met. But a few sunrises after, a new white bear had arrived. _Are… Are they replacing Pagos?_ The thought devastated him. He wanted to curl up next to his mother, Ceratura, and his sister, Crescent, and then never wake up.

But he was curious. He wanted to meet the new bear. Was he nice like Pagos? The thought was nagging at him until he couldn't stand it. He got up on his paws and padded over to where the white bears were.

"Hello? New white bear?" He called out. A really big white bear came up to him and said, "Hi, I'm Kissimi what's your name?" Moony was surprised at how nice he was and replied, "Oh um i'm Moony!"

"Nice to meet you, Moony. How did you get to the bear bowl? Or were you born here like Sunny?" Kissimi asked.

Moony was confused, "Who's Sunny?" Kissimi laughed and said, "She's a sun bear on the other side of my bear bowl." Moony peered past Kissimi and could see small black shapes on the far edge of the silver mesh. _There are sun bears here?_

"Your names kind of go together! Sunny and Moony!" Kissimi huffed in amusement. Moony wasn't paying attention, but remembered Kissimi's first question, "I was from a forest with my mother and my sister but the flat-faces took me here and shot me with a sleepstick. Where are you from?"

"Well i'm from star island," Kissimi began and then launched into the story of Kallik, Ujurak, Lusa, Toklo, and Yakone. When he had finished Moony's eyes were filled with amazement.

"They really traveled that far!?" Moony asked. Kissimi nodded and said, "You could escape like Lusa did and maybe travel to meet them. That's what Sunny wants to do, anyways."

"Wow, really?" Moony was astonished. He really wanted to escape from this place.

"Yes," Kissimi responded. Then Moony asked, "But will it work?" Kissimi replied, "Well if it worked for Lusa it's gotta work for you." Moony nodded and padded away. He lay down on the ground and didn't eat for the next few sunrises, even when he was starving. He didn't move even when he felt as if his stomach had been clawed out.

Finally the flat-faces came into the place. They pointed their sleepstick at him which felt like a just a small scratch when it hit him. He fell fast asleep.

Moony woke up in a strange room. He was trapped in a thing with shiny bars which he guessed was a cage. He tried to break the bars but they wouldn't move. Moony began to feel very anxious and searched frantically for a way out. Then he saw a small metal thing on the outside of the cage. Moony pawed at it and it began to move. _This_ must _be how Lusa did it!_ He pawed at it even more until it fell out and part of the cage swung open. Moony walked out of the cage and saw an opening on a wall, just like Kissimi had said. He padded toward it and took a big leap; he landed halfway through the opening. Moony pushed his legs up and fell out, onto some soft grass.

"I'm in the wild again!" He exclaimed to no one. Then he saw movement. There was another flat-face den next to him that looked identical to the one he was in. And just like his, there was an opening on the wall. But there was something trying to get out of it! It looked like a tiny moon bear but it's fur was slick, not shaggy like a moon bear's. And it had tiny ears. It wriggled out of the opening and plopped down onto the grass.

Moony walked cautiously toward it and saw a marking on it's chest that looked like the one of a moon bear's, except it was golden like his sister's, which was rare for a moon bear. And it wasn't shaped like a V, it was shaped like a U.

 _Is… is that a sun bear? Yeah, I think it is! But… why is it so_ tiny _!? Wait, this must be Sunny! The bear Kissimi told me about!_

"Sunny? Is that you?" He asked; nervous that it wasn't actually her. The bear looked up in alarm and backed away, only to hit her back on the flat-face den. Moony realized that he had frightened her.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Kissimi told me how to escape, just like he told you," he reassured. Sunny looked surprised. "Wait, really?" She asked.

"Yeah," Moony replied. Sunny seemed less cautious and said, "Yes, I'm Sunny. Are you going to journey and meet Toklo, Kallik, Lusa, and Yakone?" Moony nodded.

"Then let's go!" Sunny replied. Moony liked her enthusiasm and followed her. He then realized how starving he was.

"I haven't eaten in days," He told her. Sunny stopped and started sniffing the air. Then she started walking another way then they were walking. _Where is she going?_ He followed her and they walked towards a bunch of mountains with snow on top until she stopped in front of a bush at the bottom of one of the mountains.

"Why did you stop?" He asked. Sunny pointed her muzzle at the bush and Moony realized that it was a berry bush! There were blueberries on it. Sunny sat down and began picking berries and eating them; Moony did the same. When their bellies were full they lay down and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Musqux

It was the day after the blizzard. There was light snow falling when Musqux woke up. He was curled up next to Specula and Herba. He looked around for Conlis and saw that he was at the front of their den. Musqux padded up to him and asked, "Hey, Conlis. What are you doing?"

Conlis jumped in surprise. Then he realized that it was just Musqux. "Oh, I'm just thinking. I really want to taste berries and termites and things that normal Spectacled bears eat. I don't want to wait until I'm a full grown bear!"

"Me, too," He agreed. Musqux saw a glint of mischief in Conlis' eyes. "How about if we sneak off from Specula and go down the mountain to taste berries? Then we can come back!" Musqux loved that idea. "Yeah! We should do it after dark, though. Should Herba come, too?" He asked. Conlis thought for a moment. "Yeah. She _really_ wanted to have berries, even more than us!" Musqux nodded. After a few moments Specula woke up and told them to wait in the den. She walked out and later she brought a snow fox for them to eat.

Herba had woken up by then and was starving. The four of them shared the fox and then Specula told Musqux, Conlis, and Herba to go play in the snow. Musqux ran outside and started burrowing in the cold snow, but Herba and Conlis just rolled their eyes.

"Herba, do you want berries?" Conlis asked. Herba became overly excited. "Yes yes yes!" She roared. Conlis grinned and whispered, "Well when Specula is sleeping, the three of us can go down the mountain and find berries! Then we can go back up when we're done."

"That's a perfect idea!" Herba exclaimed. Then the three of them padded back into the den and saw that Specula had fallen asleep.

"She must be exhausted from hunting half the day," Musqux guessed. "Yeah," Herba agreed. Conlis grew excited and whispered, "This is our perfect chance to find berries!"

"Yeah!" Herba roared.

"Herba, you'll wake Specula!" Conlis warned. "Oh, sorry," Herba replied, embarrassed. The three cubs then started down the mountain, excited to try some berries. It was exhausting, and by the time they were at the bottom, Musqux had cramps in his stomach and his paws were sore. He felt as if he could fall asleep and not wake up for a whole suncircle! But then he scented something he had never smelled before. It smelled sweet and tangy. _Is that what berries smell like?_ He sniffed the air and began following the scent while Conlis and Herba followed him.

Then he saw it. A bush filled with juicy blueberries. He gasped and began picking some to eat. Herba grew so excited and began jumping up and down. They all began eating the berries until their bellies were full.

"Yum, that was the best thing i've ever tasted!" Herba exclaimed. Conlis agreed and then said, "We need to get back to Specula. If she's awake she'll worry!"

"Once my mother falls asleep, she won't wake up till morning," Musqux assured, "But we still should get moving if we actually want to _get_ home by morning." He nodded his head towards the sun which was setting. Herba looked at it in awe. "Wow, I've never seen a sunset before! Look at the colors!" The three cubs stared at the sunset for what felt like hours. It was the most amazing thing Musqux had ever seen; all the shades of purple, gold, and blue. Then when all the color was almost gone the purple/blue sky melted into black. There were stars glimmering in the sky, like snowflakes sparkling.

"Look at all of these trees," Conlis said, "Don't spectacled bear spirits go into trees when they die?" Musqux nodded, remembering the story Specula had told the three cubs when she had just found Herba and Conlis.

"I think I see one!" Herba exclaimed. Conlis looked at her. "How? It's so dark!" Herba was still staring up at the tree. "Look," She told them and nodded her muzzle toward a spot on the tree. Musqux looked at it and saw just tree bark.

"There's nothing here," Conlis said. Musqux looked at the tree again and then he saw a knot in the tree. There was one next to it. They looked like eyes. Then he saw it. It was as if a bear was staring back at him through the tree.

"I see it!" He told them in excitement. Conlis was still staring at the tree. He shook his head as if he was giving up.

"I can't see it," He said in defeat. Herba nuzzled him and said, "It's okay. It's probably just too dark now." Herba and Conlis started up the mountain but Musqux didn't know. He was still looking at the spirit. When he finally noticed his friends had left, he tried scenting them but the smell of pine needles and dirt was too strong. He grunted and then looked around for a good place to build a makeshift-den.

There was a patch of ferns with boulders on each side. He decided to sleep there for the night and search for his way back home tomorrow.

Musqux woke up to the sound of birds tweeting throughout the forest. He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked around. _Where am I?_ Then he remembered; Him, Conlis, and Herba had traveled down the mountain in search for berries. They had found blueberry bushes and ate the most delicious blueberries ever. Musqux's stomach grumbled at the thought of them. He decided to find the berry bushes again. He tried scenting it and picked up the sweet scent of blueberries nearby.

Musqux followed the scent and saw two bears sleeping in front of the bushes. One was bigger than him and the other one was _tiny_! They were both black like him but they didn't have white marks on their faces like he did. _Those aren't spectacled bears!_ The big one was furry like him and had big ears. He had a white V shape on his chest. The tiny one had slick fur and tiny ears. She had a golden U shape on her chest. _What types of bears are these? And what are they doing under snow-top mountain?_

All of a sudden the big one opened his eyes. Musqux ducked behind a fern bush so they couldn't see him but he kept watching through the leaves. The bigger bear shook the small one awake. "Sunny! Wake up!" The she-bear opened her eyes and then stood up. The two cubs then began eating some berries off of the bushes. Suddenly the bigger bear stopped and froze.

"Moony, what's wrong?" Sunny asked. "There's another bear here!" He replied. _Oh no, he is scenting me!_ Then Moony padded cautiously over to Musqux and pawed at the fern bush he was hiding in.

"Hello, are you lost?" Moony asked. Musqux rose from his crouching position and replied, "Oh, um… Yes I am. What type of bear are you?"

"I'm a moon bear and she's a sun bear. What kind of a bear are you and why are your markings on your face instead of your chest?" Moony asked. "I'm a spectacled bear and all spectacled bears have markings on their face. I've never seen a bear without markings on their face and I've never seen one with markings on their chest!"

"Wow! I've never heard of that type of bear!" Sunny said excitedly. Musqux smiled and then replied, "I've never heard of a sun bear or a moon bear, either. I've only heard of spectacled bears and black bears. What are you guys doing here?" Sunny and Moony then explained to him about Lusa, Toklo, Kallik, Ujurak, and Yakone and how they were going to find them at great bear lake.

"Wow, I want to go, too!" Musqux said once they were finished explaining. "Yay!" Sunny replied, "But wait, didn't you say you were lost?" Musqux then remembered how he had lost his family.

"My friends and I were going down the mountain because we really wanted to taste berries but then they went back home without me and I don't know how to get back. I'm really bad at scenting." Musqux explained.

"Well Moony and I came from the bear bowl, like Lusa did! Although I'm pretty sure it was a different one." Sunny told him.

"What's a bear bowl like? And how do you stand having barely any space to live?" Musqux asked. "I couldn't stand having not even a skylength to live. I actually came from the wild, but the flat-faces shot me with a firestick and brought me here." Moony explained. Musqux looked confused. "What is a firestick? My mother told me about flat-faces but not firesticks. What do they do?" He asked.

"Well there are two kinds of firesticks. One that puts you to sleep and one that kills you." Moony explained.

"What!? It kills you!? Why would a flat-face do that to you?" Musqux replied. Moony looked sad. "Yeah. Flat-faces killed my father. Ever since, my family and I have been very cautious of them. But one day I woke up before my mother and my sister and I heard flat-faces. I hadn't heard the high-pitched chattering sound they make in a very long time so I didn't remember what the sound was. When I realized that they were flat-faces, it was too late. They had shot me with the sleep firestick. When I woke up, I was in the bear bowl."

Musqux saw sadness in Moony's eyes. He nuzzled Moony and said, "I'm so sorry that happened to you. I would love to go on your adventure with you two."

"Thanks," Moony replied. The three cubs then started heading away from the mountains.


End file.
